This is a list I made up about a year ago that helps me find players in the WIS Database. About 98% of the franchises they've got correct, as compared to Baseball-Reference.com, but there are still a few mistakes that can be found. For example, B-R.com lists the Phillies as the Blue Jays in 1943 and 1944. The WIS Database has them as the Blue Jays in 1944 and 1945. Another one that I remember is the Brooklyn team from the Federal League. B-R.com has them listed as the Brooklyn Tip-Tops - the WIS Database calls them the Brooklyn Feds.

This list is designed to help you find the players in the WIS Database. This is how you'll find them when searching under teams. Unless they've made any changes or updates in the last 12 months to the info, it should still be good to go (sorry for the lousy formatting)...

The Cleveland Spiders were folded into the St. Louis Perfectos sometime during the 1899 season and the combined franchise became the Cardinals the following year. It's detailed in the biography of Tris Speaker that came out a couple years ago. It's also in the commemorative "100 years of Cleveland Indians" book that was sent out to season-ticket holders in the 2001 season. Unfortunately I don't have either book handy to give the minutae, but the Spiders were bleeding money and the NL wanted to strengthen the St. Louis franchise, so they merged the sorry Spiders (who went 20-134) into the Perfectos. Note that any player of consequence for the 1899 Spiders wound up playing for the Cards in 1900--Lave Cross, Ossie Schreckengost, Willie Sudhoff. It also gets you access to Cy Young for the Cardinals in franchise leagues, as he pitched for the 1898 Spiders.

The same thing could largely be said about the Louisville/Pittsburgh franchises....but I think this (two teams effectively merging, or one being absorbed by the other) is quite different from one team simply changing cities/leagues/names.